The Dark Descent A Loki Laufeyson Fanfiction
by XdreamshadeX
Summary: Rosemary is a college girl who doesn't have time to date. She spends most her time practicing the piano. But what happens when she finds a mysterious, yet charming stranger in her practice room? As she tries to get to know him, his sinister purposes are revealed. But his feelings are compromised as a darker force impends.
1. Chapter 1 - Stranger in the Practice Roo

Chapter One

I was dying. Dying to get out of class, that is. I ended up signing up for a course that semester that _definitely_ was not all it was cracked up to be. All that I wanted to do was go to my apartment and relax for a bit.

"Rosemary," my friend Anastasia whispered to me.

I rolled my eyes and turned my body to face her in my cramped desk. I scrunched up my face at her and squinted. "What is it?" I whispered back.

I was actually a bit relieved at her interruption. Advanced Calculous was definitely the biggest mistake of my life.

She leaned in closer to me, her long, blonde hair falling over her shoulders and coiling onto her desk. Her blue eyes gestured for me to look somewhere else. A wide grin grew across her lips. "Cole, ten'o'clock."

I slowly shifted my eyes to see who she was talking about. A boy with long, wavy, brown hair and eyes suddenly averted his gaze from me. Rolling my eyes once more, I turned my head back to Anastasia.

"Really?" I remarked.

" _Whaaaaat_? He's been starting at you for the entire class!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that's _his_ issue. Not yours. Not mine."

I returned to my class work. Anastasia crossed her arms and slumped back into her seat, letting out a huff as she did so.

"Why are you so asexual?"

I melodramatically dropped my pencil onto my desk and rested an arm on the back of my chair.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm _not_ asexual?" I asked, pursing my lips.

"Well, at least once more, please."

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. "Ana, I am just _not_ ready to have a boyfriend right now, okay?"

She inhaled an over exaggerated breath. "But why not?" she whined. "I need a buddy to go out with, to help me decide who to hook up with! And, let's be honest here, you're my only friend."

"I am so busy right now. I've got vocal performance, music education, not to mention Wind Ensemble, Jazzband and piano lessons. Plus, I have to take this class this semester if I want to graduate with enough credits. I don't have _time_."

She shook her head. "You are absolutely hopeless." I rolled my eyes once again.

Class had finally ended, and I was free to go home and relax. Anastasia and I walked out of the enormous classroom together, only to be stopped by the same boy who was looking at me in class earlier.

"Hey, you're Rose, right?" he asked me.

I sighed, anticipating the rejection that I was going to have to serve him a'la mode.

"It's Rose _mary_ ," I corrected.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized. "I was just wandering...um, can I have your number?"

I placed a hand on my hip. "I don't know. _Can_ you?"

Anastasia cut in before I could wound him anymore than I already had. "I'm sorry. My friend's not really in the market right now...but _I'll_ take that offer if you'd like."

I rolled my eyes and walked off. If there was one thing that girl was talented at, it was being available. Scurrying across campus, I finally made it back to my apartment building.

During my first semester of college, I had tried living in a dorm. However, my roommate was a loud, sex addict, not to mention a deadbeat. After a few months, I couldn't take it anymore. I requested to move out, and I rented my own place. For the first time since I started college, things were starting to look up.

Well, that was until I met Anastasia. Don't get me wrong, I love the girl to death, but she is always trying to hook me up with someone, or make me go out and "turn up". When, in reality, I would much rather be at the music building practicing piano.

Once I arrived back to my apartment, I changed into something more comfortable and put my caramel colored hair into a high pony tail. I grabbed my sheet music and left my apartment, walking across campus to go to the music building.

Every Friday night, I went there to practice piano for at least three hours. Because of this, I always had a practice room reserved for me.

I walked up the stairs to practice room E208. I turned a corner to get to the room. A reserved sign was on the door for me, but as I got closer, I realized that the light in the room was on.

Raising a brow, I slowly approached the door, trying to peer into the small, rectangle window on the door. From the awkward angle that I was at, I couldn't tell _who_ was in there, but there was definitely a shadow shifting about.

Gulping, I slowly opened up the door and peeked my head inside. A tall, lean, hungry-looking figure loomed over the grand piano. His black hair was slicked back. He wore a dark, long coat and a scarf. My heart fluttered at the sight of him.

I cleared my throat. "Um, excuse me?"

He looked up at me nonchalantly, his green eyes sparkling. "What is it?" he asked, his British accent shining through his smooth, velvety voice.

"Um, I'm not sure if you saw the sign on the door or not, but this room is reserved."

He lifted a brow. "For whom?"

"Well, me."

He gave me a curt nod before slowly turning his gaze back to the piano.

"Good," he said. "Then you can tell me what this strange sound machine is."

I furrowed my brows and walked over to him. I set my sheet music on the piano and stood next to him.

"You mean, you _don't_ know what a _piano_ is?"

He slightly crinkled his brows, indicating a confused look. "Piano?" he asked innocently. His breath smelled like wintergreen peppermint, making me internally squeal in ecstasy. Why was this man so...intoxicating? Almost...God-like?

"Yeah, a piano," I confirmed, snapping out of my thoughts. I sat down on the piano bench in front of him and began playing Fur Elise. I was sure that he would recognize it, I mean, everyone does.

Instead, he put his hand to his chin and stared at my fingers as they glided across the keys. I stopped playing and looked up at him.

"Fascinating..." He breathed. "Things are a lot different here in Midgard."

My face suddenly scrunched up. "Mid _what_?"

"Nothing," he corrected. He turned and began to walk out of the room. He stopped and turned to face me once more. "Tell me, woman, what is your name?"

"My name is Rosemary," I replied, hoping that he would tell me his.

"Do you come here often?" I nodded. A wide, evil grin spread across his mouth. "Well then. Perhaps we will meet again." He looked to the door, but then back to me for a final time. "Your eyes," he began. "They're green. I like green."

And on that strange note, he walked out of the practice room and shut the door behind him. The room immediately seemed dull at the lack of his presence.

 _Who was that guy?_ I thought _. He certainly was an odd fellow._ I suddenly smiled to myself like a fool _. Maybe I like odd._

 **So this is the beginning to my new Loki Laufeyson fanfiction! I hope you guys like it! It takes place a bit after The Dark World, so some of the unanswered questions that were left in the movie will be incorporated in this fanfic. Chapter 2 will be much longer, I promise!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Comfort Zones Broken

**Chapter Two**

After about three hours of piano practice, I still couldn't get that guy out of my mind. I mean, he didn't know what a _piano_ was. Everybody knows what a piano is.

Perhaps he was brain damaged. Maybe he hit his head. _Oh, man, I shouldn't have let him leave,_ I thought. At the time, he seemed perfectly charming and in tact. But, he _was_ acting a bit weird. For all I knew, he could have had a concussion and was throwing up behind a dumpster.

I gathered up my sheet music and left the music building. As usual, Anastasia was waiting for me outside. I let out a sigh.

"It's seven'o'clock and it's friday. You're going to a party with me." She said those words every week. But I knew exactly what would shut her up today.

"Ana, I met someone in there."

Her eyes grew bigger as a wide smile grew across her lips. "What was his name?"

"I don't know," I answered.

She furrowed her brows. "What do you mean 'You don't know'?" she demanded.

"He never...told me. Just, the whole experience was weird."

We began walking back to my apartment. Anastasia requested to stop for a peppermint latte at Starbucks before we got back, however. I passed. I had tea at home.

"Okay, so tell me what happened," she requested, taking a sip of her drink.

I let out a breath, watching it appear in a light puff in front of me. "It started when I first got there. He was standing there in my reserved practice room. Then he confessed that he didn't know what a piano was."

Anastasia snorted. "Who doesn't know what a _piano_ is?"

I shrugged. "He didn't recognize Fur Elise either." My eyes wandered around our surroundings. It was eerily quiet. Light snow fell in the beam the streetlights emitted. Ana and I were the only ones walking through the park near my apartment. "Can we try and hurry back?" I asked. "I don't like being alone out here."

She looked at me. "Are you okay?" she asked me. "Nothing bad ever happens around here."

I gulped. "I know. But, I just can't shake the feeling that someone's watching us."

Anastasia got into her purse and dug out a bottle of pepper spray. She tossed it to me. "Hopefully that will calm your nerves."

I eyed it. "Thanks..."

The two of us finally made it out of the park. Before we entered my apartment building, I looked behind my shoulder and back to where we had just walked. I could've sworn that I saw a horned figure disappear behind a bush. I shut my eyes tightly and opened them again, but nothing else was there.

Raising an eyebrow, I followed into the building after Ana. We made it into my apartment. She settled down on the couch as I took off my scarf and put a kettle on the stove.

"So, please, proceed with your story," she requested, still sipping her latte.

"Right," I said. I leaned my elbows on the counter and interlaced my fingers together. "So, he started to leave, but then he stopped to ask me if I came there often and what my name was."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him that I did and that my name was Rosemary."

"Then what did he say?"

"He sort of hinted that we would run into each other again, and he complimented my eyes. Then he left."

She lifted her eyebrows. "Hey, he gave you a compliment. _That's_ good." She raised her drink.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." My kettle was whistling. I took it off of the stove top and poured it into a mug with a tea bag in it. I stirred it with a teaspoon and sipped it nonchalantly. I sat down next to Ana on the couch.

"Well, what did this stranger look like?" she inquired. "I know pretty much _every_ guy on campus, so I might be able to tell you who he is."

I shook my head. "I don't know. Something tells me that he doesn't attend college here."

She took one final gulp of her drink. "Tell me anyway."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Fine..." I drawled out. "He was tall and lean. He had light skin and longish, black hair that was slicked back."

Anastasia crinkled her nose. "That sounds like it would look weird..." she commented. "And it sounds like you're beginning to describe a vampire."

"It surprisingly didn't look weird. Actually, it was quite flattering on him." I looked up to the ceiling, trying to remember his face. "He had pretty, green eyes, matched with dark eyebrows. They had to be the most depressing eyebrows that I have ever seen."

"He sounds emo."

"He was not emo!" I jokingly defended. "He just looked classy, I guess. He was wearing a long coat and a black and white striped scarf. Oh, and he had a British accent."

She dramatically pretended to die. "You might as well marry him right now!"

"First, I have to focus on seeing him again." I furrowed my brows and looked to the side. "But I don't know if that will happen again."

She lightly slapped my shoulder. "Why so pessimistic?" she teased.

"I think that there was something wrong with him," I confessed. "He seemed confused. And yet, he was perfectly oriented and charming at the same time. I don't know..."

"Well, do you want to go out there and try to find him?" she asked.

"I don't think that would be a wise idea at this time of night."

"Rosemary, if you ever want to find your mystery man again, you have to go out and look for him. Come on. We're going out tonight whether you like it or not." She got up off of the couch and tried pulling my wrist to get me off too.

"Ana..." I warned.

"You never know where you're going to find him," she hinted with a smirk and a wink.

I sighed. "Fine. But don't think that this is going to become a regular thing."

She squealed with delight as she twirled around in a circle. "But you're not going out looking like _that_."

I looked down at myself. "What's wrong with my outfit?" I asked.

She gave me a funky look before pulling me off of the couch and getting me all prepped up to go. We called a cab that drove us all the way to the other side of campus to apparently where a party was being held. We paid the driver and walked inside of the house.

We were immediately greeted by loud, obnoxious music and a red, plastic cup full of cheap beer. Ana and I gave each other cheeky smiles before sarcastically "clinking" our cups together. The two of us guzzled them down in one gulp.

From across the dark room, we spotted our friend Kyle. Let me tell you, he was flamin'. And I'm _not_ just referring to his blazing red hair and wicked dance moves... As we got closer to him, he spotted us too, and immediately, a wide grin grew across his lips.

"Hey, ladies!" he exclaimed. He furrowed his brows and put a hand on his chest when he realized who I was. "Rosemary? This isn't your natural habitat."

I shrugged and bobbed my head. "Well, let's just say that I'm keeping an eye out for someone."

"Oooh, a boy? Who is it?"

"That's the thing. I don't know. That's sort of why I'm here."

Kyle took a sip of his beer. "Tell me what he looks like, I'll keep an eye out for him."

"He's pretty thin, he's pale and he has long, black hair."

"Ooh, sounds edgy," he commented with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "He's British."

"Then honey, he's definitely a keeper."

I nodded. "I hope."

Kyle took our now empty plastic cups and refilled them with vodka. He handed them back to us. "I hope you find him, Rosie." He looked to Anastasia. "And I hope that you find...someone." She glared daggers at him. He lifted his eyebrows and waved over his shoulder to us. "Toodles!"

I laughed at Ana as I sipped the vodka that had just been handed to me. "He's right, you know," I teased. "You really should find someone special."

She rolled her eyes. "I will when I want. " She downed her drink. She tried to take mine from me, but I drank it all before she could grab it.

"Haha."

Cole, the boy from earlier began to approach us. I internally groaned. _Here we go..._

"Hi Anastasia," he greeted. He turned his gaze towards me. "Rose _mary_."

"Hi..." I said. A head ache suddenly washed over me. _That alcohol must be getting to me..._ I thought.

"Hey Cole," Anastasia said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He responded by putting a hand around her hip. "I thought that you weren't going to come tonight."

He shrugged. "I changed my mind. I wanted to see you." He cast me a glance.

I shuddered, knowing that those words were directed more to me than Anastasia. My eyes wandered around the room, looking for an out. This guy creeped my out, and I wanted to get away from him.

"You two have fun," I wished half-heartedly, rubbing my temple with one of my hands. "I'm going to go off in _this_ direction." I began to walk away from them as quickly as I could.

I interrupted Kyle's "sick" dance moves by pushing his shoulder to straighten him out.

"What gives, Rosie?" he exclaimed loudly.

"Either I've had too much to drink, or the guy that Ana is with is totally sizing me up like I'm his last meal."

Kyle looked towards Anastasia and Cole. He was looking straight at me as Ana laughed with some other girls. Kyle looked back toward me. "Ewe, he is. Who is he?"

I shook my head. "Don't know."

"Well, you've had _two_ drinks, there is no way that you've had enough already. Come with me, honey."

He grabbed my wrist and led me into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and tossed me a can of bud light. I opened it and chugged it down. My head ache got immediately worse.

"Kyle, I don't..." I burped loudly. "Feel that great."

He waved his hand apathetically. "You'll be fine. Don't stress."

I closed my eyes and chugged the rest of it down. When I opened my eyes again, I saw a flash of something black disappear up the stairs.

"Hey, I think that was him," I said, pointing towards the stairs. "The dude I was looking for."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go!"

I threw my beer can into a trash bag that was lying about and stumbled up the staircase after him. I looked to my right where the hallway was and saw someone disappear into a room.

"Hey!" I half shouted. I tripped over my feet as I tried chasing after the person. Taking my heels off, I resumed after him again.

When I finally entered the room that I saw him walk into, no one was in there. The room was a bathroom. I sighed and sat on the closed toilet as I rubbed my eyes, smearing my makeup a bit. I really shouldn't have drank so much.

I got up and looked into the mirror. Well, for a drunk girl, I looked pretty good. Someone suddenly appeared next to me in the mirror. I turned my head to look at him.

"Cole?" I drawled out. "What do you want?"

He grabbed my wrist and tugged me gently out of the bathroom and into the next room over. "I was _hoping_ to find you alone..." he said, a smirk tugging at his lips. He closed the door behind him. "And maybe even change your mind about me..."

He forced me onto the bed that was in the dark room. He advanced on top of me as my efforts to push him off of me grew futile.

"Cole, get off of me!" I shouted lazily.

He put a hand over my mouth. "Sshh. Be quiet, Rosemary." He leaned down and began to place sloppy kissed onto my neck.

"Stop it!" I screamed.

Suddenly, he was yanked off of me. I immediately sat up.

"Get off of her, you mewling quim!" a man's voice rasped. It sounded very familiar.

"You got it, man!" Cole agreed in fear, running out of the room. The man's silhouette turned to me.

"Are you alright, woman?" he asked, hardly an ounce of concern in his smooth voice.

I nodded as I began to stand up. "I'll be okay..." No sooner had the words escaped my lips, I began to tumble over. The man caught me in his arms.

"Hm. Something tells me otherwise."

Suddenly, we were back down in the living room. The lighting was slightly better now than in the previous room. I looked up at the man's face. His green eyes glistened down at me.

"Hey," I said, furrowing my eyebrows and pointing a finger. "You're-"

"Rosemary...?" Anastasia's voice spoke. As I turned my head to look in her direction, the man set me down on the floor and disappeared into the crowd.

"Hey, wait!" I called.

"Are you okay? Who was that?"

"Ana, that was _him_!" I exclaimed. "Go after him!"

She nodded and took off after him. I let out a sigh and stood up. I tried to take a step but still was too drunk to even walk. I stumbled over, only to be caught, yet again. I looked over my shoulder to see who had caught me. I smiled.

"Hey, you're that weird guy!" I exclaimed, letting my head roll around. He rolled his eyes whilst his mouth was partly open. He pulled me up to my feet and cupped my face with his hands.

"Hush now, woman," he ordered, staring at my forehead. "This will only take but a moment."

Before I knew it, we were inside of my apartment building, still facing each other in the same position. He released my face and took a step back.

"Woah..." I whispered. "I _definitely_ had too much to drink."

I leaned against a wall as he went to my fridge and fetched me a water bottle. He unscrewed the lid and brought it to my lips. I childishly forced it away.

"I don't want it..." I whined.

"But you're intoxicated," he reasoned, bringing it to my lips once more. I reluctantly agreed and took a few sips. As soon as I was done, my lips curled into a smirk as I leaned into his chest. He looked me up and down, genuinely confused.

"You're intoxicating..." I complimented. He began to lead me to the couch, a twinkle in his eye. He gently pushed down on my shoulders as I laid down so that I would hold still.

"Ah, but I see _that_ job has already been done for me."

I threw up head back and laughed at his joke. He continued to stare deep into my eyes. I stopped laughing and looked at him.

"Hey," I said. "What's your name?"

He looked around nervously as if he was checking that no one was looking. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, there was a furious pounding at my door. He whipped his head around.

"I have to leave," he whispered. He stood up from the couch and his body began to disintegrate away. I jumped to my feet.

"No, wait!" But he was gone. What had I just saw?

My apartment door burst open to reveal Anastasia stumbling her way in "Rosemary!" she cried, closing the door. "Where the hell did you go?"

I smirked. "He took me home."

"Oh yeah that guy, I couldn't find him _anywhere_! And then I..." She rambled on and on for about five minutes.

"Mm hm," I replied when she was finally done. She put her hands on her hips.

"You're literally so drunk right now. Go to bed before you hit your head on something."

I nodded. "Okay..." I took off my clothes and makeup. I went to bed and listened to 'I Need A Hero' as I fell asleep. I thought about how relevant the song was to me. I wanted a hero.

Little did I know, a hero was the exact opposite of what I going to get.


	3. Chapter 3 - Mysteries Multiply

**Chapter Three**

"I'm telling you! He took me home! It was the weirdest thing!"

"I refuse to believe that your mysterious stranger magically transported you back to your apartment!" Anastasia argued. We walked into the math and science hall and up a flight of stairs to our calculous classroom. "You were clearly too wasted to know what was going on. How did he find you in the first place, anyway?"

I rubbed my lips together and looked at her. "Um...I think that it's better that you don't know."

We sat down in our desks. She set her stuff down and stared blankly at me. "Tell me."

I sighed and rested my forehead on my desk. I mumbled something about Cole.

"What did you say?" she asked. "I couldn't hear you."

I lifted my head up and looked at her. "Cole tried to rape me."

She rolled her eyes. "He did not."

I lifted my brows. "Um, yeah, he did. Then the mystery guy pulled him off of me and magically transported me down to the living room."

"Here we go again..." she mumbled. "And we need a name for your mystery man."

"Like what?" I asked.

"How about Thomas?" she asked. "Or Tom?" I shrugged. "Rodger?"

"Sure, I guess."

"So then Rodger magically transported you home and tried to sober you up?"

I nodded. "He was going to tell me who he was, but you interrupted us!"

"No one else was in there!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, well. He disintegrated into the air."

She snorted and smacked her forehead. "Good God, you're obsessed! What, is he Harry Potter or something?" I rolled my eyes. "You were really drunk, Rosemary. I guarantee you that none of this ever happened. End of story." She sat back in her desk just as our professor walked in.

"Good afternoon, class. If you will, turn your textbooks to page A510. Please study that first reading for 20 minutes. If you have any questions, please come and ask me." He sat down at his desk and started working on his computer.

Letting out a silent groan, I pulled out my book and began the reading. I finished it rather quickly and looked around me. I caught Cole looking at me more than once. Through the entire class period, I felt completely trapped under his gaze. It was as though I was slowly, second by second, turning to stone from his unwavering stare.

Looking up at the clock, I saw that the class was only about a minute from getting out. Nervously looking around, I bit my lip and tapped the eraser end of my pencil onto the desk, hoping to help pass the last, achingly slow seconds.

My eyes turned to the open doorway and only entrance to the classroom. A sudden calm washed over me. It was him. The stranger.

He strolled down the dank, empty hallway, a certain swagger in his step. He wore a slim, black suit, his midnight hair still slicked back exactly like before. Oh, how I was ever so tempted to spring up from my desk and run to him, demand for his name. But, instead, I simply dropped my pencil into the thick text book before me and quit fidgeting. I raised my neck, hoping he would see me.

His green eyes kept fixed ahead. The beginning of his brows pointed upward in an apathetic manor, and yet, despite the stoicalness of his demeanor, there was so much emotion in his face all the while. It confused me. Everything about this man confused me. At the very last moment of his brief passing, our eyes met for a split second, before he disappeared the opposite side of the doorframe.

The bell rang.

In a blur of flying pages and the sensation of closing zippers, I bolted from the classroom.

"Rosemary!" Anastasia called after me. I could her her sneakers squealing behind me as she started after me. I did not wish for her to follow. This was a task that I did not want her to distract me from with her absurd antics.

I quickly looked down the hallway the way in which my stranger had walked. There was absolutely no sign of him. Letting out a frustrated groan, I took off in the direction in which I saw him come. There was a squeak of a shoe. I sharply looked to my left. A flash of black disappeared into a room down a corresponding hallway.

An absurdly large grain making its way across my cheeks as though I were a deranged clown, I scampered down the hallway and into the room where I saw the stranger disappear to. I approached the door, which was now closed shut, and let out a quick breath. I reached for the handle, and cracked the door open a hair. Someone suddenly grabbed my wrist, evoking a gasp out of me, and pulled me into the dark room. The person pulled me into his chest, causing me to shiver in ecstasy. He then pushed me away and beheld me in front of him, gripping my shoulders.

"Are you following me, woman?" he asked in a smooth voice, his accent ever present.

"Are you?" I retorted.

He released my shoulders and rested a hand on his chin. "What a...silly question."

"Oh, silly, is it? Explain to me, good sir, what exactly are you?" I crossed my arms across my chest and jutted my hip out to one side like a 15 year old girl.

He cast a wicked grin and tilted his head down. A shiver ran down my spine. He looked truly evil. He began to circle me.

"Tell me, woman. Do I frighten you?" I gulped. "Do I cause you to tremble in my very presence?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" I half whispered.

"It's a simple question. Answer it."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "No, you do not. A person who doesn't even know what a piano is doesn't really pose much of a threat to me."

He lifted his brows and laughed lightly as he removed his hand from his chin. "Oooh," he cooed. "That was rather cold of you, wouldn't you say?"

I shrugged. "Hey, you asked for it, pal."

He reached forward and grabbed my wrist again. I raised an eyebrow at it as he tugged me out of the room and down the flight of stairs to the exit of the math and science hall.

"Take me to your sound machine building," he demanded. I ripped my wrist out of his grasp and rolled my eyes at him.

"It's called a music building, Einstein."

"What is an Einstein?" he asked, genuinely confused. I let out a snort.

"Yeah. Let's go."

The two of us walked across campus together to the music building. Oddly, he seemed to know his way around, and exactly where we were going. We walked into the grand doors of the building. A large, glistening, metal sculpture hung from the incredibly high ceiling. I swiftly walked along the large floor and climbed the stairs to the practice rooms. He followed after me.

"In here," I spoke quietly. We walked into an empty practice room. The sky outside was already turning purple from sundown. Winter was such a dark time for me. In more ways than one.

I clicked the lights on, and the room suddenly buzzed with artificial light. I ran my fingers through my hair and set my back pack down. The man closed the door and slowly walked over to the single grand piano in the center of the room. He sat down on the piano bench and adjusted himself to sit on the edge of it, just as a well-trained musician would do. I raised an eyebrow at it.

"Woman, do you have any music that you're working on?" he asked me.

I walked over to my backpack and pulled out a small binder labeled: Beethoven. As I opened it up and flipped through the pages of sheet music, I asked him, "Hey, why do you keep calling me 'Woman'? I have a name you know. And I've told it to you."

He lifted an eyebrow as he took in a big breath and released it with a sigh. "I apologize, Rosemary. But where I come from, we don't call women by their first name until we're better acquainted."

I nodded. "I see." I walked back over to the piano. "Speaking of which, what exactly is your name?"

"My name?" he asked, putting a hand on his chest. He cast me a wicked smirk. "What do you think that it is?"

I sighed and shrugged. "I'm not really in the mood for guessing. My friend Ana and I agreed to call you Rodger until we found out."

He chuckled. "Rodger?" he repeated. "Like, Steve Rodgers?"

My face went blank. Steve Rodgers. Captain America. The Avengers. "Can we not talk about the Avengers? That's...sort of a sensitive topic for me."

He nodded, but gave me a skeptical stare. "Sure..." he responded, not prying any further. He averted his gaze to my binder. "Who is this Beat-Oven?"

I chuckled and looked down at it. "It's pronounced 'Bate-Ohven', actually. And he is a famous composure from the classical period. He lived in Germany."

He suddenly flinched at the word 'Germany'. I looked at him intently. "Ah, Germany..." he whispered absent-mindedly. "I don't have very fond memories of that place."

I put an elbow on top of the piano and rested my cheek in my hand. "Do tell."

He gave an annoyed smile. "I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say I was at a gala a few years ago and things there went a bit haywire."

My eyes widened. "Are you telling me you were at the gala that Loki the Asgardian attacked back in 2012?"

He shrugged. "You could say that. As I said, I would rather not talk about it. We both have things we'd rather not talk about. Now, back to this Beethoven," he said correctly this time. I straightness my posture. "Why do you have a book full of his music?"

"Oh," I said, opening it up. "I'm putting on a piano recital after winter break of strictly Beethoven. I was assigned to study him this semester." I pulled out a program to the concert and handed it to him. He took it from me and examined it. "You can...come if you'd like..."

He looked up at me. "I might make an appearance." He winked at me, causing my heart to skip a beat. "Alright, so what piece were you going to give me?"

"Yeah," I said, taking the top few sheets of music out of the binder. "Here." He folded up the program and put it in his coat pocket before taking the music from my hands.

"The Moonlight Sonata, Movement One," he read aloud. "By Ludwig Van Beethoven." I smiled and nodded at him.

"It's my favorite one out of all of Beethoven's works." He nodded as he set the music up onto the piano.

"I'm anxious to hear what it sounds like." He positioned himself to sit centered at the piano and put his finger on the keys as he observed the music notes. He let out a breath and closed his eyes gently as he pressed his fingers down onto the keys. They glided gracefully across the piano as notes were flawlessly emitted from it. My eyes widened as I watched him effortlessly play the sonata...and with his eyes closed. After a minute, I put my hand on his to stop him from playing. He opened his eyes and looked up at me. "Is there a problem?"

I just stood there speechless, my mouth agape like a fool. "H-h-how did you-?"

He stood up. "Once you explained to me what a piano was, I decided to spend the next couple of days studying this instrument and how to read these...strange hieroglyphics." He ran a hand over his slick, black hair as he walked over to me. "It took me longer than I had hoped to perfect the art. But, great things take time."

I furrowed my eyebrows and put up a hand. "Hold on a second." I lifted my chin. "Are you telling me that you went from not even knowing what a piano was, to becoming an expert at it two days later?"

He shrugged. "That's about right." I still just stood there, my mouth wide open, and staring into space.

"There's no way that's possible," I stated as I regained my composure.

He furrowed his brows and lifted his head. The man looked genuinely confused at my comment. "No, it is," he retorted. "Well, for me, at least."

I snorted. "So, what. Are you like, some super genius or something? What's your IQ?"

"IQ...?" he repeated. "I do not understand."

"What?" I asked. "How are you..."

"Since I am clearly causing you some kind of discomfort, I think it best that I be on my way." I stood there utterly confused as he slowly started heading towards the door. As I heard the door creak open, I suddenly snapped out of my daze and whipped around.

"Wait."

He turned his head and looked me right in the eyes. "What is it, Rosemary?"

I swallowed hard and walked up to him. He turned the rest of his body to face me. "You never did tell me your real name," I reminded. "Is that something that you're going to do? Or are you going to keep it a secret?"

He looked down at me and stared, his face unreadable. "Why is it so imperative that you learn my name, woman?"

I leaned forward. "Because, man," I said, mocking him. "It's basic human etiquette to call people by their first names."

He lifted his chin. "Well, then I suppose that it's going to remain a mystery."

I bowed my head and licked my lips. "Fine," I said, assuming that our conversation had drawn to a close. I began to turn around, but was stopped abruptly as the man grabbed my wrist and pinned it up against the wall. Too shocked to even struggle, I stood there wide eyed, his torso pressed against mine as he held my wrist above my head.

"Listen to me carefully, Rosemary," he said in a growling whisper. "I would advise that you stop digging around on grounds that do not contain your soil." Seeing the confused look on my face, he let out a sigh and continued. "In other words, stop trying to get close to me. Something is coming. It's already set it's sights on me, and it will target you as well if you stick around."

I began to nervously tremble as I slowly shook my head. "What are you talking about? Are you part of the mafia or something?"

"I told you to stop digging," he warned with a harsh glare. "Don't trust anyone. Even those you wouldn't even dream of being against you." He let go of my wrist and started out the room again. He looked back at me one last time. "Not even me." He left me in the silent, empty practice room once more, his words still resonating in my mind.


End file.
